With our extensive expe
we provide a comprehen
• All BPS entitlements must be used in the same year at least once every two years.
consultancy & managem
• Those with surplus entitlements may be at risk of losing some to the National
Reserve
in 2017.all aspec
service
covering
• There has been limited activity in open market entitlement trading in Scotland
so far. including:
rural property
• BPS entitlements can be sold, leased or gifted.

Rural property sales, purchases and

• Do you have surplus entitlements you could sell instead of losing them?

Valuations and appraisals for all pur

• Do you need any more entitlements to maximise your claim?

Farm
estate
management – in-h
• Did you miss out on an allocation of entitlements and need to acquire them
toand
help
your
business?
tenanted.
• Opportunity for claimants of Region 2 and 3 land to top up their allocations as only 90%
Rent review advice and negotiations
of their eligible land was allocated Entitlements.

• Tight deadline. Transfers of entitlements must to be notified by 3rd AprilLandlord
2017. and tenant issues.

• We have clients who require entitlements and also have entitlements to dispose
of.
Business management
appraisals an

• If you have any Basic Payment Scheme issues, we can help.
Preparation of tenancy and contract
Whilst April 2017 may still feel a long way away, experience has shown that
preparation
agreements.
is key to a smooth and BPS application.
Farm building design, specification
To assist with any of the above, please contact
Patrick Playfair on 01289 304432 or 07917 080353
Ben Burbridge onmanagement.
01896 751300
Berwick upon Tweed
Carlisle
Galashiels
Keswick
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Windermere

Do you want
a FREE grain
drying system?
Using heatpump technology to reduce your running cost!
Calibrate are looking for 3 farms, each of which must have
3 phase power and dry over 1500 tonnes of grain per year.
These farms will benefit from a heatpump grain drying
system installed for FREE.

“I have dealt with Calibrate
for a number of years now
and this is the second big
project I have undertaken;
paybacks from the initial
project have been 4 years
rather than the forecasted
6.5 years. I like these guys,
they are very clever, get
the job done – could highly
recommend them for large
scale projects.”

A 360kW Heatpump system manages the grain drying and farm
houses heating onsite. The Grain system is located in a customised
plant room that was built in our manufacturing plant and delivered
to site ready to be commissioned.
A bespoke controller operates the grain drier via a cloud based
system enabling Calibrate to monitor all aspects of the process
and the tariff generation meters online.
Reduced running costs save £36,000* per annum by using
a Heatpump instead of the traditional diesel mobile plant.
The Heatpump system has an income of £42,000 per year
after all expenses, every year for 20 years.
The installation of the Grain Drying Heatpump took place over
4 weeks with the plant room being completed remotely to reduce
Calibrate’s time onsite. For the 20 year tariff duration there will
not be any unknown costs and at any time the client can purchase
the system and then benefit from the tariff as well as the savings.

Michael Allan
Hulam Farm

Start here if you have a grid connection

NOW
Engage
Calibrate

60

8

4

DAYS

WEEKS

WEEKS

Power grid
Application

Design
and build of
heatpump
grain drying
solution

Ofgem
certification

HARVEST

2017

Grain drying
begins

For an informal chat on what your
future income could be call:

(0)1668 215 544
www.calibrateenergy.co.uk
*All formulas and calculations are derived from industry suppliers and MCS guidelines, it is advisable to have the calculations and formulas checked by a certified
mechanical engineer, and as such, Calibrate Inc. ltd (Company # 08277206) will not be held liable for any incorrect formulas or calculations or any accidental
misrepresentation.

JTS STOCK HANDLING SYSTEMS & BULL PENS
Our extensive knowledge and understanding of Stock Handling Systems and Bull Pens allows us to help create a
bespoke system that will be manufactured by us to suit each client.
All our systems are designed, manufactured and installed to be safe, efficient and welfare friendly always with the
end user in mind and because they are made in-house they can be made to suit any space.

Robert Forster worked as a livestock and business journalist for a range of publications including Agra Europe, Farmers
Guardian and Scottish Farmer as well as BBC Radio 4 “Farming Today”. He was founding chief executive of the National Beef
Association before stepping back in 2008 to write its weekly Newsletter. He now produces his own Beef Industry Newsletter.

Farmers must anticipate, and react ahead of,
turbulent exit from EU.
The impact of the UK’s retreat from the EU
has been given its most searching public examination yet since
the New Year – just six weeks ahead of the deadline set for the
triggering of Article 50.
And the essential message is that Westminster has still to
acknowledge the scale, depth and complexity of the task it faces
because politicians continue to be bewildered by the range of
alternatives paraded before them and civil servants are struggling
to pick up coherent policy messages.
The message for farmers is unchanged. They have to anticipate
a difficult, even turbulent, exit from the EU and a long period of
uncertainty before opportunities opened by the UK being in sole
charge of its own destination begin to emerge.
Bets have to be on the UK leaving the Single Market and the
industry facing import/export tariffs imposed by World Trade
Organisation regulation before alternative trading arrangements
with key countries can be negotiated and secured.
Business decisions must therefore continue to concentrate on
reducing unit costs and raising output on both a margin per head
and per hectare basis.
For breeders this means milky, medium sized, cows being put
to easy calving bulls able to sire quick growing calves and the
number of calves born within a herd each year lifting substantially
too.
These should then be grown to slaughter weight as quickly as
possible and sold for processing at the youngest possible age.

10

Please mention Agrimart when responding to advertising

Farms able to do this will also be reducing herd disease (like
BVD and Johnes) and growing more grass at a lower cost by
analysing soils, correcting pH, and following up with accurate
(non-wasteful) applications of fertiliser.
Silage should be cut earlier, be bagged or clamped at higher
quality, and rationed more carefully too.
WTO tariffs will shorten the volume of beef imported into the
UK unless there is such a catastrophic fall in the Republic of
Ireland’s prices and its beef can carry a tariff burden and still be
competitive when it comes in.
This means UK farmers should anticipate relatively comfortable
prices for their beef cattle – especially if consumers continue to
demand a home-produced, Red Tractor qualified, retail product.
It is also possible that the UK’s exit from the EU could be so
chaotic that the mechanics of importing and exporting seize up
overnight because port administration is unable to cope with new
bureaucratic demands and changes.
If this happened food supplies in the UK would be tight. The
population will also be angry but farmers, especially those
producing beef, could expect additional market price benefits
until new rule systems surrounding import/export bed in and trade
flows smooth out – which would be unlikely to happen overnight.
Robert produces Beef Industry News – the only independent
information source for the UK’s beef sector. It is published on
Friday evenings and valued for the quality of its coverage of
the prime cattle market and other important industry issues.
Find out more by logging on to www.rforster.com

It’s that time of year again, when livestock
farmers across the UK are steeling
themselves for a month or more of
interrupted sleep and regular nocturnal trips
in P.J.s and wellies to check on progress in
the calving shed.
The more savvy, however, have discovered
that a large percentage of these trips are
futile, and that a quick look at the TV or
computer monitor could have saved them
the bother and allowed them to slip gratefully back to sleep.
Using broadcast-quality HD digital CCTV cameras with builtin infra-red lighting and audio, you can display incredibly
clear pictures from the sheds day or night on your existing
TV, computer, tablet and smartphone. When calving is
finished, it’s a simple matter to relocate the cameras for use
as general security surveillance, in which case a multichannel recorder will store up to a month’s worth footage for
instant retrieval and use as evidence. Alarms for Farms
offers an extensive range of wireless CCTV equipment
including pan/tilt/zoom cameras and long-range wireless
links that eliminate the need for cabling between cameras
and monitors (i.e. between the yard and the house) over
distances of up to three miles. Remote monitoring over
broadband from anywhere in the world is
included as standard.

Contact us today about the new 6 Series from Deutz-Fahr
The best technology mix in it’s class - from simple manual gear shift
to the most advanced electronic joystick control. Choose from
simple Powershift, fully automatic RCshift or TTV transmission.

Simon Bainbridge farms in partnership with his wife Claire and his parents, Ivan and Elisabeth in Northumberland.
They run suckler beef and sheep enterprises across 650 ha of mainly SDA and moorland organically.
It’s a new year, and we’re aiming for health, wealth and happiness all round. We’re starting the year at full pelt. The
fencing is about to commence for the ranges for the chicken shed. Hopefully a combination of poultry net and electric
fence will keep ‘bad ol Mr Fox’ out! NewQuip, who are supplying the internal equipment are making a start on
building the system. The wet areas on the ranges have been drained and we will soon start planting trees and hedges in
order to encourage the hens to range. Hopefully by the time we get to that stage the bout of AI currently being carried by some migrating
wildfowl will be long past and our birds can be let out as required.
I am very pleased with the new cattle building, which was finished last March. The spaned calves are doing so well in there that we
are considering adding 3 more bays so we can then house all the calves under one roof. That will simplify feeding and bedding whilst
improving efficiency and their environment whilst housed over the winter months.
While the cattle are being housed we are squeezing in one more vaccination in our already comprehensive vaccination programme.
Being organic we don’t have the option or want the option to use antibiotics to treat problems. We just don’t want problems. Even
though the cost and the hassle seems like another barrier – it only takes one beast saved every 18 years to cover the cost.
We have a lowland bog in the uplands which is particularly wet (as you would imagine), with an array of wildlife and flora and fauna
flourishing in it. It is an environmentalists dream. I walked
through it the other day and over 100 snipe lifted from it. We
see no decline in wildlife across our area, and to the contrary we
have seen an uplift in the biodiversity on our farm. I raise this
point as there are some very vocal TV and media personalities
who are very good at putting down the upland farmer and cannot
see the benefit that we provide, how we work with nature, rather
South Road – Belford
than against it, whilst producing good quality produce and often
providing the first link in the chain for beef and sheep from upland
(01668) 213 433
to lowland. Packham, Monbiot et al are hell bent on having their
Suppliers of Quality Assured
side heard – we desperately need as strong a voice on our side.
Whilst I am on the headline bandwagon, our secretary of State for
READY MIXED CONCRETE
the Environment, Andrea Leadsom was busy making headlines
Steven Birdsall (01668) 213 733 Mobile: 07970 112761
about reducing the cost of red tape. How £5M could be saved.
If that is divided over 100,000 farmers, it’s only £50 per head
GILBERT BIRDSALL
– that level of money could easily be lost in tariffs or non-tariff
BUILDING & CIVIL ENGINEERING
barriers. As we leave the EU it will be crucial for us to get our
Suppliers of Quarry Materials, JCB Hire, Drives, Agricultural Buildings, etc.
trade position right.

Land
Scotland
are! working
! Landmaps
!
! and Whose
!
!
!
together to help solve the puzzles

Voluntary registration of title deeds is currently attracting a 25%
discount on Registers of Scotland fees, new trigger points for
registration have been introduced covering transfer of security and
long leases. Plan ahead to ensure these important matters are in place
if considering any business changes.
Call us for further information.

• AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERS • TRAILER AND MACHINERY SERVICE • ON SITE WORK AND WELDING •
• STRUCTURAL STEEL WORK • GENERAL METAL FABRICATION • GATES AND RAILINGS •
• DIGGER AND HANDLER ATTACHMENTS • HYDRAULIC HOSES MADE OR REPAIRED IN HOUSE OR ON SITE FROM £7.50 •
FEBRUARY 2017

Case
IH and
& Marshall
Ltd aretoproud
move forward
in Partnership
Mark
Garrick
LtdEveritt
and Case
IH are proud
moveto
forward
in Partnership
to
to provide
Sales
and
Aftersalescoverage
coverageforfor
the Tyne Valley
area,toextending
provide
Sales
and
Aftersales
Morayshire
and West
Skye for the
South
to IH
St brand.
John’s Chapel, North to the Scottish Border, West to Gilsland and
the
Case

Case
Morayshire
East
down IH:
the Tyne
Valley for the and
Case IHWest
brand.

Mark Garrick Ltd with their dedicated Ag’ Machinery team and Mainline
Mark Garrick Ltd and Case IH are proud to move forward in Partnership to
Machinery
and
TractorLtd
manufacturer
experience
cater for team
all Sales and
Everitt &
Marshall
with their
dedicated
Ag’will
Machinery
Mainline
provide
Sales
and Aftersales
coverage
for Morayshire
and West and
to Skye
for the
Aftersales
needs
of
our
current
and
new
Case
IH
customers
as
well
as
their
own
Machinery
and
Tractor
manufacturer
experience
will
cater
for
all
Sales
and
the Case IH brand.
loyal
customer
base.
Aftersales
needs
of our current and new Case IH customers as well as their own
Mark
Garrick
Ltd with their dedicated Ag’ Machinery team and Mainline
loyal
customer
base.
A full line of tractors from the 50Hp to the 620 rated hp QuadTrac, combines
Machinery and Tractor manufacturer experience will cater for all Sales and
from 312HP to 634HP and a wide range of balers as well as the 4 Model Farmlift
Aftersales
of our
current
and new
Case
customers
as wellcombines
as their own
A fullrange
line needs
ofwill
tractors
from
the 50HP
to the
620IHrated
HP QuadTrac,
handler
be offered
through
their
premises
at Birnie
near Elgin.
loyal
customer
base.and a wide range of balers as well as the 4 Model Farmlift
from
312HP
to 634HP

For
Sales
contact:
NICOL
on 07879premises
423447
handler
range
beIVAN
offered
through
Hexham.
A full line
of will
tractors
from the
50Hp their
to the 620 ratedathp
QuadTrac, combines
Forfrom
Service
contact:
MARK
GARRICK
on
07974
757588
312HP to 634HP and a wide range of balers as well as the 4 Model Farmlift

Talk about busy I have never known anything like it. I am approaching
my 62nd birthday and thinking I should take life a little easier. Not a bit
of it, I have pulled 8 sheds in the space of two weeks, I have to go to
Dalkeith tomorrow, the hen house here on Thursday and over to Ednam
next week.
Firstly it was over to Town O’Rule, Bonchester Bridge and then just
before Christmas I was over at Synton Mains, near Selkirk pulling a shed off the muck and
back there on the 28th pulling it into position. I do like Tim and Rosemary Aynsley they
are always nice to me, which is more than him who thinks I don’t know about Christmas
and the pleasure of giving and receiving. On January 3rd it was over to Bonnington Farm,
team at Town O’Rule, Archie
Peebles, on the 4th to Over Langshaw, Galashiels and from there back to Town O’Rule. TheNesbitt,
Nicola and Stephen
Yesterday I pulled the shed here and tomorrow off to see Robin Somerville at Smeaton
Brown, Morgan Mackay
Farm, Dalkeith.
If anyone knows where he could find me a new pair of 14 x 20 18 ply shoes I’d be really grateful even if he isn’t because
he has to pay for them. I do know a few years ago a nice man from somewhere West of here rang him saying he had spare
tyres. Did he want them? I told him to take them but as usual he knows best. If that generous fellow still has those tyres
for an AEC militant or similar, do please get in touch as my feet are getting
extremely sore running around in shoes with holes in the soles.

Winner of the Agrimart Chris
tmas
Word Search Competition

The first correct entry pulled from

Wendy’s spare wheel!

Congratulations to Rosie Bell, ag
e 9 from Morpeth!
Your £10 book token is on it’s wa
y to you now

N.S METAL RECYCLING
Buyer of Steel and Non Ferrous Metals
COLLECTION SERVICE AVAILABLE
Competitive Prices Paid
BEST PRICES IN THE BORDERS

NEIL SUMPTON 01388 601231 / 07790 046476
20

Please mention Agrimart when responding to advertising

Concrete the way you want it!

Blinkbonny Quarry is offering a revolutionary way of mixing
concrete, instead of the traditional method of delivering ready
mixed concrete Blinkbonny Kwik Mix have placed a batching plant
on the back of a lorry.
Our batching plants can be set on site to produce any spec of
concrete required and it can be controlled to stop to the nearest
shovel full, eliminating wasted concrete and unfinished jobs. The
machines will carry enough raw material for 6 or 8M3 but can leave
concrete in quarter M3 amounts so if the job takes 4.75M3 we will
take the rest away and you only pay for what you lay, no “part load
charge”. We all know how difficult it can be to estimate so here is
the answer, no more ordering 4M3 and then having to order another
half M3 to finish the job.
We also supply all grades of hardcore and crushed rock products at

• Containing naturally occurring organic
minerals 0.5mm
• Optimal growth is achievable when all
nutrients are available
• Law Of The Minimum
• If any of these nutrients are missing from
the soil, all growth will be restricted even
if adequate amounts of other nutrients are
available

Octopost is a
Swedish manufactured
product, octagonal shaped to
differentiate its unique properties,
starting with very slow grown
Swedish pine, kiln dried, square pointed
and pressure heat treated
with creosote. This provides a life
expectancy often in excess of
40 years with a manufacturers
guarantee of 25 years.
The posts undergo the same high
quality process as the companies main
core production of telegraph poles.
TEL 01888 511203

Woodchip, pellets,
logs and kindling
available for
collection or delivery.

BORDERS MAIN
DEALER FOR
FIRESTONE
AGRICULTURAL
TYRES
We supply any brand of
Agricultural Tyres
and Wheels at
Competitive Prices
FULLY EQUIPPED
SERVICE VANS FOR
ALL YOUR ON-SITE
TYRE MAINTENANCE
For quotation and technical
advice phone Rob Hastie on

01573 225454 (day)
07971 697673 (mobile)

C & R TYRES LTD.
STATION YARD
SPROUSTON ROAD
KELSO
Tel: 01573 225454

www.candrtyres.co.uk

JMTHonda
SALES ~ SERVICE ~ PARTS

Tel: 01555 811645

We are your local supplier of
woodfuels grown sustainably
in the Borders.

We Grow & Harvest
We Chip
We Dry
We Deliver
We Guarantee
New drying facility now installed which allows us
to regulate the moisture content of our woodfuel.

Glendinning Ground Works Limited have been specialists in land drainage work

the
50 years.
We carry
small
repairs to existing drainage schemes and in
Specialising
in last
drainage
works
largeout
and
small
LAND DRAINAGE
SPECIALISTS
large
scale
drainage
schemes
using
our
trenchless system.
Providing free advice and quotations

We have just invested in a new Inter-Drain 2040 GP Trenchless Plough which i
Glendinning Ground Works Limited
have
been specialists
in land
drainage
works
capable
ofsupply
installing
up to 150
drainage
pipe atfor
various depths. Drainage sy
GGW – Upgrade private or mains
water
systems
tomm
meet
the current
legislation
the last 50 years. We carry out are
small
repairs
to
existing
drainage
schemes
and
install
installed with a gravel infill to underside of topsoil for maximum effect. Th
large scale
drainage schemes
our trenchless
system.
GGW
– Construct
farm andusing
forestry
roads
and
ground works
new buildings
Inter-Drain
is mainly
designed
for landfor
drainage
but can also be utilised in other
We have just invested in a new sectors
Inter-Drain
2040
GP
Trenchless
such as cable and
pipelinePlough
laying.which is
capable of installing
to 150 out
mm
drainage
various
depths.
Drainage
systemswhich allows us to lay dra
GGW up
– Carry
typespipe
of flat
ood
prevention
works
Theall
machine
also
incorporates
a Topcon
laser system
are installed with a gravel infill systems
to underside
of
topsoil
for
maximum
effect.
The
new
where gradients are flat.
Inter-Drain
mainly designed
land
drainage
but can
alsoprofessional
be utilised
in
otherand free
GGW – Are
currentlyis involved
in thefor
installation
of large
and
small
hydro
electric
power
schemes
Our
experienced
team
offer
advice
quotations
on all aspec
sectors such as cable and pipeline
laying.
land drainage.
GGW
– Build all ashapes
of which
pondsallows
and reservoirs
The machine
also incorporates
Topconand
lasersizes
system
us to lay drainage
systems where gradients are flat.
01896830487
T:01896
01896831264
T:T:quotations
01896
830487
T:
Our experienced team offer professional advice and free
on all aspects
of 831264
E:eileen@ggw.demon.co.uk
land drainage.
E:eileen@ggw.demon.co.uk

AHEAD OF THE GAME - The John Deere 6155R is
already a firm favourite amongst tractor drivers. The
success of your field operations is directly related to
the quality and reliability of your workforce â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the
people and machines that you depend on each day
of the year. Every 6R tractor is designed and
engineered to be the most versatile and powerful
constituent of your workforce, built to overcome the
diverse challenges presented by terrain, prevailing
conditions and operational windows. The 6155R
punches out just over 200hp with IPM and is
available to test now.

If you have any fields that you feel are not performing to their full potential, we can help with our
expert knowledge of soil fertility Call us on 07977 139242
david@franklinsoilfertility.com www.franklinsoilfertility.com

Talking......... Arable

Colin Mitchell is farm manager at Meikleour Estate near Blairgowrie in Perthshire. The soils range from light sand and
gravel to some heavy, wet, north facing clay loams with 400 acres of fertile silty sand. Cropping covers 2200 acres and
includes winter wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape, spring barley and oats, seed and ware potatoes, carrots and vining peas.

That’s another year over, and despite the weather, it turned out not too bad. We received 903mm of rainfall, with 220 of that in
January - but what really let us down was the dry May. I suspect that with the wet winter, that the winter barley especially hadn’t
put any roots down deep. So, by the time it dried up and got hot in May, there was no way for the plants to reach deeper water.
This winter, so far, has been completely different, with a bit of frost and not a lot of rain. Hopefully all of the winter crops will go into the spring
with well developed root systems. It’s just as well there have been growthy periods over the last month, as the last sown wheat has only just
emerged having taken 6 weeks to reach this stage. I was worried at one point as one particular batch of seed was really struggling to get going,
while the same variety from the same company but a different seed stock, came through 10 days before. As always with these sort of things, it takes
quite a bit of head scratching to sort out the problem.
To hopefully allow the roots of plants to reach more water, we carried out a fair bit of subsoiling last summer to try and shatter the soil and remove
any restrictions to growth. Some of these pans come about due to our intensive root crop rotation and having to harvest crops in wet conditions.
Others nearer the surface, come about from heavy rainfall events on light land, which causes the soil structure on the surface to breakdown and
cause surface crusting. The latter reason is why I rarely roll any crops and I prefer a slightly cloddy seedbed. In this case however, clodiness is in
the eye of the beholder - what I think is cloddy, someone on heavy clay would think fine!
I am hoping that one of the benefits of cover cropping, will be to make the soil more resilient when heavy rain does fall. Like many good things,
it will take time to come about.
Elsewhere on the farm the Christmas break is coming to an end and we start to finalise plans for the coming season. There are carrots to harvest,
as and when they are required by the factory, and fertiliser to be applied when ground conditions allow.
The biggest decision I will have to make is when to start ploughing up the cover crops? Should I plough them or direct drill? Should I desiccate
them? How much nitrogen will they have captured and left behind for the following crop? The latter is one of the big “ifs”, get it wrong and we
could be scraping flat spring oats off the ground this coming September. Get it right and there could be savings in fertiliser costs. Just guess which
one I would prefer!

Concrete laying and blockwork can now be undertaken
no matter what size of job
Contact: Office 01573 440314
Stuart 07970 450720 or Jock 07970 730567

J & J Grant

Scotland’s Spreading Specialists

5 spreaders available to meet your precision spreading requirements
High output LGP machines to minimise soil and crop damage
Weighing systems and auto steer fitted
We supply our own loader and fuel to minimise disturbance to the customer
Blanket or variable rate lime spreading compatible with all mapping systems
The following can be supplied and accurately applied

(As long as the entrance is more than 1.66m wide and more than 1.89m high)

SANDYSTONES HIRE
01835 830507 / 07703 571291

FEBRUARY 2017

Please mention Agrimart when responding to advertising 33

Cefetra is a customer focused company originating grain
from farms around the United Kingdom. By matching
cereal and oilseed growers with outlets throughout the
UK and mainland Europe, Cefetra offers increased
opportunities for farmers supported through efficient
logistics and a team of experienced traders.

Trading in excess of 20 million tonnes of agricultural
products every year, Cefetra can help maximise
earning potential for cereal and oilseed producers.
What distinguishes Cefetra is “QLINK” our unique
approach
incorporating
Quality,
Logistics,
Information, Network and Knowledge.

Hugo Lee is farm manager at Whitsbury Farm and Stud near Fordingbridge in Hampshire. The soils
are predominantly chalk downland with some clay cap. Cropping covers 1500 acres and includes wheat,
barley, oilseed rape, peas and poppies. 60 cattle are finished annually and 250 ewe lambs are sold every
September. The farm is also home to the famous Whitsbury Manor Stud and Whitsbury racing stables.
Following a really relaxing and over indulgent Christmas and New Year I was
looking forward to a good post-New Year walk around the farm to burn off
some calories. I always love walking the crops at this time of year; there is nothing better than a
field of wheat shimmering in the early morning sunlight. However, this year my walk was rather
more depressing. As I set out from the farm the first wheat field I walked across was covered
in vehicle tracks with massive ruts caused by ‘them’ doing doughnuts. Field after field was the
same and in total 7 fields (140ha) were badly damaged and they had also driven all over the grass
gallops. I have never ever seen such awful destruction and over such a huge area. This was not
caused by hare coursers but almost certainly by a group of joyriders intent in causing as much
devastation as possible. Not only is it very hard to quantify the damage and what effect it will have
on the final yield but it also looks so unsightly. I take huge pride in the appearance of the farm and
there is nothing more soul destroying than when it gets mindlessly driven over and ripped up. As
I have mentioned in previous articles the farm is easily accessible by road and byway so it is hard
to prevent vehicles from entering the fields. We have made a huge effort over the last five years to
make the farm more secure. We have even had to resort to employing a night time security man
after our pheasant pens were repeatedly damaged and our fences were being cut on a regular basis.
We are pretty confident that we know the group of people who are doing this and also where they
Crop damage
come from. However the police seem powerless to do anything about it!
On a more positive note I manged to make the most of the recent cold dry spell last week and
all the oilseed rape has received its Astro Kerb application. The last of the spring barley went
today and we are currently busy loading out oilseed rape which is going to ADM Erith in Kent.
The sheep are out on the fodder radish cover crops and seem to be enjoying it so let’s hope that
they do as well from it as they did last year. Our beef are growing well and I hope to send the
first group to ABP Langport early next month.
I am eager to get on with Spring ploughing as soon as conditions allow. With over 3000t of
sewage sludge to spread and plough in there is a lot to get on with!
Sheep enjoying the fodder radish

Ian Mackenzie is an arable and dairy farmer from the Canterbury Plain in the South Island of New Zealand.
He runs a number of fully irrigated intensive cropping farms, producing grain, vegetable and grass seeds
with some stock finishing.
The new year has begun. William, the Gorgeous Banker and the little fat grand-daughter
have returned from their holiday up in the Bay of Plenty and I have been relieved of farming
duties. So I’m sitting on the side verandah on a gorgeous summer evening drinking a long
iced cocktail watching kingfisher nab frogs from the swimming pool; scaup and teal dabbing in the pond and
the boss mowing the golf course; meanwhile reflecting on what the new year might bring.
Much will be the same. Farming calendars don’t change much. Although every season is different, having
now farmed through 40 different years those differences don’t seem so daunting.
My role in the operation is about to formally change. We have been working our way through a succession
View from the director of pigs and
plan for a while now and have reached agreement on our different roles and responsibilities.
peripheral enterprises
The Boss is to become chairman of the governance team, William and the Gorgeous Banker will take over
the lease of the cropping farms and I get the pigs and other peripheral enterprises. Tim O’Toole the Tamworth
will have to lift his game!
During the Christmas New Year holiday period I had occasion to shoot into town to get some parts. I had
been moving the irrigator up on the new farm so went from there to town looking a wee bit scruffy. I ran
into this big bruiser of a chap from the north side of the river who I used to play rugby against 100 years
ago and was big in sheep dog trials. He chipped me for my attire, suggesting at our age and stage a more
gentlemanly dress code is more suitable for trips to town. Now I’ve always been a little intimidated by this
chap, not because he is a big bruiser, but more because his brother/cousin on being released from jail back Tim’s children in the carrot seed
crop
when we were playing rugby, beat up a mate of mine for flirting with the wrong girl. The Cuzzy-bro, who
came complete with a swastika tattooed on his forehead, really wasn’t very nice and I’ve never been sure whether the big bruiser or the nutter
were the norm for their family, so I’ve always treated the whole family with a slight reserve.
However, we got talking and I explained I’d been shifting irrigators because the boy was away for the holidays and he reflected that in our day
we would never have dreamed of taking a break away at the critical later stages of the growing season; and of course he is right about that. The
change of generations will bring differing attitudes and methods, not always successful, and consequently some lessons may be relearned the
hard way; but they may be better for it that way.
In the meantime I may have to make running the pigs and peripheral enterprises look more onerous. I sensed some envy from the Boss as she
went past on the lawn mower.
36

Guy Lee farms in partnership with his wife, Philippa, at Sandystones, near St Boswells. Arable crops of wheat,
oilseed rape, malting barley, rye and organic oats are grown, 400 cattle are finished annually, 4000 organic hens
produce eggs for Waitrose, 14,000 organic point of lay pullets reared each year and 60,000 pheasant poults are
raised. In addition we produce Agrimart, which is read by 8,000 farmers and agriculturally related businesses.
We have little choice at what time of year the hen’s houses are restocked as
we have a running programme rearing 16 week old organic pullets every 8
weeks. It was straight back to reality after New Year as we only have 8 days to turn a shed
round. The old birds were caught up on Sunday and on Tuesday week the pullets arrive. The
forecast of high winds and freezing temperatures does not make the job any easier. On Monday
afternoon Wendy was out pulling the house off the muck, sport was provided shooting the
resident rats as their home was suddenly removed about them. We now have two full days of Two shooters with 20 bores and a
washing the house and the equipment, disinfecting it all and putting it back together on the site piece of 20mm pipe ensured no rat
survived
that has been rested for 13 months.
The order enforcing all poultry to be kept inside has been extended until the end of February
which will mean that the hens will not have been outside for almost three months. We have
provided plenty of distractions in the scratch areas of bucket lids, haynets, pecking blocks and
a deep bed of chipped willow to prevent boredom. During this enforced period of incarceration,
the birds have become used to the regime and do not appear to be suffering unduly.
A requirement of both the Soil Association and RSPCA Freedom Foods is that 5% of the
range must have natural cover. In our case this is 1000 m2 in each paddock. I have taken the
ALLOWED OUT - Buckets lids,
opportunity whilst the hens are shut inside to plant 360 trees in 8 blocks in the four paddocks. NOT
haynets, pecking blocks keep them
I am very grateful for assistance with this from the Borders Tree Planting Grant.
amused
In the absence of Tony who was off work for almost five weeks following his hernia operation I have had to call on friends and
family to help with essential jobs through this period. One routine task is clipping cattle before they are sent for slaughter. I am
first to admit our beasts are not the cleanest despite the fact we bed them everyday. They are all Angus which as a breed seem
to get dirtier than continental cattle. I think they lie in the dirtier areas to cool down or being hairier the muck sticks to their
coats more. Whatever the reason, every beast needs a full belly clip. On Boxing day my nephew helped me clip 10, and last
week a politics student assisted me getting 16 ready. To many this is not the most pleasant job but both my helpers, much to my
surprise, thoroughly enjoyed the experience as I do! Tony is back now so I shouldn’t have to call on their services again soon.
We had the whole family home for New Year and a great time was had by all. Our house is bursting at the seams with
five grandchildren as well as their parents staying. A walk
on New Years Day blew away the cobwebs, a rugby ball
is always on hand to provide entertainment for the less
enthusiastic ramblers.

Steve Edwards and Billy Reid planted 360 trees in 8 blocks as
cover for the hens

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Talking......... Business

Jessica Card is a Senior Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor for George F White based in their
Duns and Alnwick offices. She specialises in subsidy and grant applications, strategic business
management, valuation and the sale and purchase of rural property in both England and Scotland.

The Rural Payments Agency has confirmed this week that 91% (over 78,000) BPS claimants received a 2016
BPS payment by 31st December. Whilst this is positive, it’s highly likely that a high percentage of these
payments are incorrect, particularly if your 2015 payment was wrong (and probably still hasn’t been corrected!).
Claim statements will start to be sent out by the RPA from the end of January (direct to the claimant), it is vital they are checked
as soon as they arrive to identify any issues.

The 2017 Cross Compliance Guidance has recently been published by the RPA and luckily there is only one change which is
to GAEC 1: Establishment of buffer strips along watercourses. From 1 January 2017, land parcels of 2 hectares or less next
to watercourses will have to comply with all the rules to protect watercourses against pollution and run-off from agricultural
sources. Therefore, for all agricultural land within 2 metres of the centre of a watercourse or field ditch and/or from the edge of
the watercourse or field ditch to 1 metre on the landward side of the top of the bank both of the following apply: 1) you must take
all reasonable steps to maintain a green cover and 2) you must not cultivate or apply fertilisers or pesticides.

Revised Nitrate Vulnerable Zones in England for 2017 to 2020 start on 1 January 2017. They include new areas of NVZs, and
exclude areas that have been de-designated. Defra is sending written notices telling the owner or occupier of the designation and
their need to comply with NVZ rules. Notices are being sent for those in the Solway Tweed river basin district on the 3 January
2017 and to those in Northumbria on the 20 February 2017.
DEFRA have announced at the Oxford Farming Conference this week that £120 million of funding will be made available to
support farmers, grow businesses, and generate thousands of jobs in rural communities. Rural and farm businesses will soon be
able to apply for the next round of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) Growth Programme, which will help
new businesses get off the ground and support existing companies to grow, develop new products and access new export markets.
North of the border Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing has confirmed £58.7 million of funding over the next five years
from the Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme. We expect the application window to open for 2018 applications at the end of
this month.

For further information or assistance please contact
Jessica Card on 07912 895919 or jessicacard@georgefwhite.co.uk
42

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EXPERIENCED LAMBING MAN
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Barry Meeke farms 190 acres (150 owned) in partnership with brother Philip, near Dromara, County
Down, Northern Ireland. They manage a mixed farm including pedigree British Friesian cows, breeding
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On the run up to Christmas, every year we aim to have everything set up so that we can
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Udders, tails and flanks have been clipped on the fresh calvers
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WANTED All types of 4x4
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Deadline date for the MARCH issue is Friday 3rd February
FEBRUARY 2017

Please mention Agrimart when responding to advertising 51

Grain Dressers

SAS Mobile Seed Cleaning

Est 1986

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Email sas@graindressing.co.uk
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